MY VERY UNSCIENTIFIC RESULTS ON FACE MASKS

[Phillip Diamond Plus]

WOULD YOU CRUISE AGAIN IF: 

  A. Face masks are required in all public areas:  14.3% Yes      80% No        5.7% Maybe

  B. Face masks are required only at shows and large gatherings including embarkation:   33.3% Yes          36.1% No          30.5% Maybe

  C. Face masks are not required but 6' spacing is encouraged:   64.7% Yes       23.5% No         11.8% Maybe  

[Matt]

Thanks!

[JeffB]

I pulled this up from early June because I want people who are anti-maskers, both ashore and if we ever cruise again, to see this video.

Wearing a mask isn't about party or identity politics. Wearing a mask isn't about giving up your personal freedoms or being forced to do things like one horribly offensive cartoon suggests the Nazis forced Jews to do - be marked with a star of David. 

Wearing a mask is about stopping the spread of SARS-CoV-2 so that we can all get back to the thing we love ..... cruising. 

 

[L454S]

Only when they are worn properly. I can't tell you how many people I see walking around stores with a mask halfway down. Can't tell you how many people wear the same mask day after day, putting it on and off all day. Abject failure for mask usage.

These breathable fabric gaiters people wear(depending on mfg) can pass half of your breath when you sneeze.

Flattening the curve does not mean you won't get the virus. It just kicks the can down the road a bit. It's not a political opinion or judgement, I frankly don't give a hoot who's in the White House. To say that I have an opinion on this issue based on a politics, is to think if someone else were in charge, I would feel differently...nonsense.

[DunkelBierJay]

Here's a list of questions:

Have you seen the reports that actual infections are 20x the official numbers?

Have  you seen the death to reported infection ratio trend line?

Isn't the death count a more useful statistic than infections?

Have you had a cold or the flu?

Are masks now required to prevent any illness from being transmitted? Is that realistic? How long before people claim to have a basic human right not to get sick?

What if you have antibodies and carry a card exempting you from mask wearing? Is it anyone's business?

Are humans social creatures?

Are we divided on this issue?

What will unify us?

Do you have control over how anyone does anything? Does anyone? Should anyone?

Other than basic hygiene, is it reasonable to expect masks to be the permanent expectation even though the human race has made it for thousands of years without such measures?

Have you seen conflicting reports from the same main stream media outlets within a short period of time about therapeutic treatments?

Have you seen Bill Gates 2010 TED Talk?

What is the cost of a therapeutic treatment vs projections on the cost of a vaccine?

Do you trust media on any level?

Do you trust the government?

Do the media and government change their story on a regular basis?

Are the media and government apparently unfair to the cruise industry?

Will we all reach any agreement on anything related to this or other illness?

Is there a conflict between statistical virology and real world medical experience?

Were the early infection and death models taking mitigation into account wrong?

[JeffB]

Quote

Here's a list of questions:

What's your point? is your list of questions a defense of an anti-masking position? If not, what it is it? Lots of potential for strawman arguments of no consequence to my point:

To provide readers of this blog an easy to understand explanation of why a properly worn and fitted mask reduces the tranmissability of SARS-CoV-2

Do you dispute any of the findings this particular scientist presents?   

TBF, there is a great deal we do not know about the virus or about the disease that it produces. The effectiveness of masking to reduce transmissability of it is not one of the those things that we do not know. 

[cruisellama]

Curious if some of the more severe protocols are employed by the lines (like face masks), will the normal "cruise crud"   also decline?

[JeffB]

4 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Curious if some of the more severe protocols are employed by the lines (like face masks), will the normal "cruise crud"   also decline?

Probably ...... let's look at this more closely. I've not seen the data but I'm sure it exists that lists the common cruise ship bugs. I suspect that there are two classes that predominate: (1) GI viruses/bacteria and (2) respiratory viruses. Examples of the former are Norovirus and bacterial E. Coli gastroenteritis. Norovirus can be transmitted by both airborne means and your fingers touching a contaminated surface and then your fingers touching eyes, mouth or nose. E. Coli is predominantly a food-borne disease. Both are known to persist secondary to a lack of toileting hygiene and hand-washing

My knowledge of the "cruise crud" as I have seen it described is that it is a funky cough that seems to show up about day 5 of your cruise. IOW, it's a respiratory virus. It's probably the common cold or coronavirus - not THAT coronavirus!

So, yep, ship's sanitation and infection control measures reduce the spread of these things and mandatory masks onboard would certainly add to a reduction in the spread of respiratory illness.

[cruisellama]

1 hour ago, JeffB said:

Probably ...... let's look at this more closely. I've not seen the data but I'm sure it exists that lists the common cruise ship bugs. I suspect that there are two classes that predominate: (1) GI viruses/bacteria and (2) respiratory viruses. Examples of the former are Norovirus and bacterial E. Coli gastroenteritis. Norovirus can be transmitted by both airborne means and your fingers touching a contaminated surface and then your fingers touching eyes, mouth or nose. E. Coli is predominantly a food-borne disease. Both are known to persist secondary to a lack of toileting hygiene and hand-washing

My knowledge of the "cruise crud" as I have seen it described is that it is a funky cough that seems to show up about day 5 of your cruise. IOW, it's a respiratory virus. It's probably the common cold or coronavirus - not THAT coronavirus!

So, yep, ship's sanitation and infection control measures reduce the spread of these things and mandatory masks onboard would certainly add to a reduction in the spread of respiratory illness.

We were on the last Liberty of the Seas sailing prior to the shutdown (8-15 Mar).   The ship was being kept sanitized well.  Plus there was the best adherence of hand washing and sanitizing by the guests that I've seen.   We were with a large party and everyone noticed there wasn't the common hacking you hear in lines or in the theater.  Also spoke with one of the crew working Johnny Rockets and he told me about all the extra precautions they were taking in food services.  He also noted they should be following the new procedures all the time because he noted the crew was in very good shape also.  Less sickness since they implemented the protocols.